Amazon RDS for SQL Server: Deploying and managing databases is one of the most complex, time-consuming, and expensive activities in IT. Amazon RDS removes this complexity and makes it easy to set up, operate, and scale a relational database in the cloud, fully managing database administration tasks such as software installation and patching, database and log back-ups for disaster recovery, and monitoring. Businesses of all sizes have taken advantage of Amazon RDS to offload the operational responsibilities of their MySQL and Oracle databases. With this launch, Amazon RDS brings the same benefits to all SQL Server customers. Below are the key highlights of the service:

Free Usage Tier: If you are new to Amazon RDS, you can get started with Amazon RDS for SQL Server with a Free Usage Tier, which includes 750 hours per month of Amazon RDS micro instances with SQL Server Express Edition, 20GB of database storage and 10 million I/O requests per month for a full year.

Flexible pricing options: Beyond the Free Usage Tier, you can run SQL Server on Amazon RDS using the “License Included” or the “Bring Your Own License” service models, with prices starting at $0.035/hour. Refer to Amazon RDS for SQL Server pricing for more details.

ASP.NET Support for Elastic Beanstalk: AWS Elastic Beanstalk gives you an easy way to quickly deploy and manage your Java, PHP and as of today, ASP.NET applications in the AWS cloud. Below are the key highlights of the service:

Compatible and Inexpensive: Because Elastic Beanstalk leverages the familiar IIS 7.5 software stack, existing applications can be deployed with minimal changes to the underlying code. There is no additional charge for Elastic Beanstalk, and you pay only for the AWS resources needed to run your applications.